Decision-time: My art-life needs to change. Or should I say evolve? Have been thinking hard these last few months about what I can do and how I can do it.
The thing is, I’ve got M.E. and it affects every part of my life, including my art-practice. And while I’ve found ways of adapting my practice to my physical circumstances – I started crocheting because I could do it lying down – it’s a real struggle to communicate with other artists and art professionals on a regular basis. Due to the severity of ‘my’ M.E. I am mostly housebound, don’t have a studio and rarely make it to exhibitions, private views, seminars, workshops and all those other places where you talk about ideas, projects, possible exhibitions, and need to explore different ways of connecting into the artworld. I’m not completely out of the loop though and very occasionally appear at a private view like a Jackie in the box who is catapulted into the world for a brief but enthusiastic instance and then falls limply back with this formidable fatigue closing over her like a lid. Again.
But: No more (or at least less) agonizing about missing all those opportunities for networking with other artists, gallerists, curators, and how that affects if and how my work makes it into the world – time to try myself out in new, mostly digital, ways.
I would like to make my case: Because of illness I may be limited in what I can do/where I can go, but my art is good (even if I say so myself) and will out. I’ve made tentative moves towards twitter and facebook and would like to write about my art-practice here, which includes talking about how my ability to get on in the (art)world is affected by my physical circumstances. I’ve already been writing a blog elsewhere for a couple of years, have enjoyed some lively and meaningful exchanges with other artists but havn’t managed to post or read as often as I would like. My focus needs to shift! I’m worried that I won’t have much energy left for making work, but feel I’m at a crossroads and need to give this a go, see where it takes me. So here I am. Hey there.
(Thank you to Rosalind Davis who encouraged me to blog here)
